Shock home defeats for Valencia and PSV in Europa League

LONDON (Reuters) - The attractive football preached by Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup was again seen to great effect when the Welsh side stunned former winners Valencia with a 3-0 away victory in the Europa League on Thursday.

The English League Cup holders, in their first season in European competition for 22 years, took advantage of defender Adil Rami's 10th-minute dismissal to run riot in the Group A clash at the Mestalla with goals from Wilfried Bony, Michu and Jonathan De Guzman.

The opening group stage matches also threw up another shock in Eindhoven where PSV, one of five teams in action who have previously won the UEFA Cup or Europa League, were beaten 2-0 by Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad in Group B.

Swansea's record signing Bony continued his prolific start after joining from Vitesse Arnhem in July for 12 million pounds ($19.27 million) with a powerful first-time finish from Michu's centre, just minutes after Valencia had been reduced to 10 men.

Ivorian international Bony, with four goals in Europe this season, was set to race clean through before last man Rami impeded his progress and was shown a straight red card.

Spaniard Michu, whose first campaign in English football yielded 18 Premier League goals last season, again displayed his clinical finishing by doubling Swansea's lead on 58 minutes from Alejandro Pozuelo's pass.

A woeful night for Valencia, who won the 2004 UEFA Cup and were beaten finalists in successive Champions League finals at the turn of the century, was capped when De Guzman curled in a delightful free kick from 30 metres.